


wish i could dissect your brain apart

by perissologist



Series: Pop Psychology [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Angst, Bibliophile Jason Todd, Fluff, M/M, emotional makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6760783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perissologist/pseuds/perissologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We Snuck Into The Library For a Quickie </p><p>but</p><p>Got Distracted By The Extensive Mythology Section"</p><p> </p><p>Or: Dick learns something new about Jason, every time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wish i could dissect your brain apart

_ _

 

_\---_

_It takes a vivisection just to understand your heart._  

 

 

 

 _“Unf.”_ Jason lets out a soft huff of breath as his back collides against the wall, long lashes fluttering over the jut of his cheekbones. “We really”—he bites back a groan, squirming as Dick slips a hand under the front of his shirt—“shouldn’t be doing this.”

 

Dick grins up at him as he leans down to suck a kiss over the exposed skin of Jason’s breastbone. “You wanna stop?”

 

Jason glares at him. “No. It’s just”—he glances warily down the dark length of the hall—“if Bruce catches us, we’ll be eviscerated. Well. _I’ll_ be eviscerated.” 

 

Dick pauses, considering; then his grin splits suddenly into a broad smile. “I know.” He hooks his fingers through Jason’s and pulls him off the wall.

 

“What—where are you going?” Jason demands, eyes narrowed as Dick drags him down the hall.

 

“Shh. I thought you didn’t want to get caught?”

 

Jason rolls his eyes, but remains silent—at least, until Dick comes to an abrupt halt, eyes sparkling in the dimly-lit corridor as he gestures to the heavy oak doors he’s brought them to. Jason looks up, blinks, and heaves a long-suffering sigh. “Dickface. This is the library.”

 

Dick just winks, takes Jason’s hand, and shoulders open the door.

 

Their breaths seem amplified by the dusty emptiness of the room, the sounds they make as they pull each other through the aisles vanishing into the dark shelves, only to return, later, as lapping waves of ghostlike echoes. It isn’t hard for Dick to pin Jason against the first stable shelf he comes across: As soon as Dick leans in to suck at the pulse point at the base of Jason's throat, Jason turns limp, eyes going half-lidded as his head falls back against the books. Dick grins, victorious, and begins to unbutton the front of Jason’s shirt, following each undone button with a biting kiss, all the while watching as Jason stares resolutely forward, chest rising with each of his fast, shallow breaths, gaze fixed dead ahead as his entire body tenses with hyperawareness. Dick loves it when Jason gets like this, high-strung and sensitive and full of anticipation, blue-green eyes a little glassy, skin hot to the touch. He ducks down to press his lips teasingly to the skin just above Jason’s waistline, grinning when Jason shudders. “What’re you thinking about?”

 

Jason swallows, licks his lips, glances quickly down at him before yanking his gaze back up again. “I’m thinking about—about—”

 

“Yeah?” Dick hums, keeping his mouth against skin.

 

Jason clears his throat. “About how impressive it is that, since the last time I lived here, Bruce found the time and spare thousands to buy an entire anthology on the works of Ovid.”

 

Dick laughs. “Is that what you’re thinking about?”

 

“Uh—yeah, actually.” Jason pauses, head tilting as he squinted across the aisle. “And, shit—is that all three volumes of _Anthologia Graeca_?”

 

Dick pulls back. The dazed look that dominated Jason’s features mere moments before is rapidly clearing, and his attention is now focused almost entirely on the spines of the books on the opposite shelf, expression growing increasingly impressed as he scans each of their titles. Dick falls back onto his haunches, arching an unimpressed eyebrow up at the boy before him. “Are you seriously getting into the books? Now?”

 

“Shh, he has a first-edition copy of the Boldino manuscript!” Jason bursts out, and then he’s pushing past Dick, reaching out to trace his fingers reverently over the edges of a gilded leather volume. Dick stares at him, incredulous. 

 

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” he asks, letting himself tip over to sprawl on the lush carpet.

 

“Shut up.” Jason pauses, then pulls out a thick tome inscribed with the image of a Greek hoplite on the front, glancing back at Dick over his shoulder. “You want me to read the _Iliad_ to you?”

 

Dick sighs, loud enough to hide his smile. “Yeah, yeah,” he says, as Jason grins and settles down beside him, laying the book out on his lap. “Get on with it.”

 

~*~

 

Dawn sees Dick half-asleep on the carpet, head pillowed on Jason’s lap as he finishes reciting the last sentences of Book Six of the Iliad. He yawns and stirs, blinking sleepily as Jason looks down at him, mouth quirked upwards. “Done?”

 

“For now,” Jason agrees, quietly. “We can finish the rest some other time. There’s still eighteen more books.”

 

Dick groans, eyes fluttering shut again. “Shit,” he mumbles. “I forgot how much of a pain in the ass Homer was.”

 

Jason laughs, happy, and Dick opens his eyes again just to take in the sight of his smile. “Can I ask you something?”

 

“Hmm,” Jason hums, sated and agreeable after four hours of reading Greek mythology. 

 

“What’s your favorite myth?”

 

Jason scoffs, seeming genuinely offended. “Impossible, next question.”

 

“Come on,” Dick cajoles, poking at his ribs. “There’s got to be one that’s special.”

 

“They’re all special, asshat,” Jason shoots back. “That’s the point.”

 

Dick rolls his eyes. “I mean to you, _asshat_. You know—which one do you _relate_ to? Which one _speaks_ to you?” The grin he gives is all mischief, extra-flashy to hide the genuine curiosity underneath.

 

Jason opens his mouth, looking ready to return with another insult—but then he abruptly shuts it again, a contemplative look settling over his features. Then, to Dick’s surprise, the sharp expression that so defines him softens, dipping into something open and vulnerable; on anyone else, Dick might call it tender. “Achilles,” he says, finally, glancing at the closed cover of the book beside him. “That’s my favorite.”

 

Dick smirks, amused. “You relate to being the mighty and untouchable warrior, I presume?”

 

There’s a long moment of silence, in which Jason only watches him, teal eyes bright, expression unreadable. At last, he lifts a hand, winding his fingers almost absently into the dark thicket of Dick’s curls. “No,” he says, quiet, so quiet Dick can barely hear him. “Just the one who loves him.”

 

Dick stares at him, frozen, breathless. Above him, Jason smiles and leans in for a kiss. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> a little bit of happy before the inevitable sad, though this is still tagged as angst because we all know that achilles and patroclus's story did not end well. i imagine this takes place not long after _white heart heat_.


End file.
